James 4:7b-8

See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.

Farmers know about patience better than just about anyone else. Likewise, those of us who follow Christ must also be patient for the coming of the Lord. We must “stand firm” as James tells us, but we must also be about His business. Are you praying for peoples like the Kapus as you wait for His return?

Pray that believers will soon spread the good seed of the gospel to this hungry people group so that they can learn about the God who loves them.

Kapu People of India

Vandarappa stumbled out of his small house, scanning the skies for a sign; even the small wisp of a cloud would have filled his despondent heart with hope. The hazy blue skies showed no indication of rain. As a young farmer living in a small coastal town in Andhra Pradesh, he is entirely dependent on the fickle monsoons. Last year his entire crop was destroyed by a monsoon so fierce that his family was not able to salvage enough crops for even their own use, much less for the exploiting market middlemen. He is still paying off debts from years past. If he is unable to produce a good crop this year, he does not know how he is going to keep the hounding moneylenders away. The gnawing thought that he has tried so hard to dismiss seems to taunt him tenaciously: “You will have to do what your neighbor did.” In a feeble attempt to dismiss the thought he muttered to himself, “If I were to kill myself, what would become of my wife and daughters?” The empty blue skies just stared back at him in response.

Pray that the Kapu people will be freed from systems of abuse and cycles of poverty that threaten to destroy them. Pray that the Christian community in India will come alongside these farmers in word and deed so that the Kapu people can find hope in Christ to face the future.-EJD